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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider DOE tells solons: No problem with fuel supply, it's the price

DOE tells solons: No problem with fuel supply, it's the price

Published Mar 7, 2022 12:25 pm

When it comes to the ongoing fuel crisis, the problem isn’t with the country's supply of fuel, but with its price, says Department of Energy (DOE) Undersecretary Gerardo Erguiza.

The Fuel Crisis Ad Hoc Committee hearing with Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda (left) and Rep. Sharon Garin (right) (LIVE SCREENCAP/ MANILA BULLETIN)

He asserted this during the Fuel Crisis Ad Hoc Committee meeting on Monday, March 7.

According to Erguiza, the Philippines has enough fuel supply to last for over 40 days as per the inventory of local oil companies.

“Wala po problema sa supply, ang inventory is more than 40 days... ang problema is presyo (We don’t have a problem with supply, we have more than 40 days of inventory... the problem is with price),” Erguiza told the ad hoc panel.

Upon inquiry by AAMBIS-OWA Party-list Rep. Sharon Garin, DOE Oil Management Bureau Director Rino Abad bared that the country uses 60 million liters of fuel per day.

The DOE, through Erguiza's presentation, asked the lawmakers to revisit the 1998 Downstream Oil Industry Deregulation Act, saying it's the root cause of the fuel price problem.

He also mentioned four long-term solutions, namely the unbundling of fuel prices, the implementation of "minimum inventory requirement", the increase of government authority over oil price regulation, and the temporary suspension of fuel excise tax.

The Russia-Ukraine war has resulted in a severe increase in the price of crude internationally. Local fuel prices are expected to spike on March 8, with gasoline projected to increase by up to P3.50 per liter and diesel by up to P5.50 per liter.

Since the start of 2022, gasoline prices have gone up by P9.65 per liter, diesel by P11.65 per liter, kerosene by P10.30 per liter, and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) by P9.40 per kilo.

Related Tags

Department of Energy Sharon Garin 30722 gerardo Erguiza fuel crisis fuel crisis ad hoc committee
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